For how long is Bi-Courtney Aviation Services expected to manage the New General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport,Lagos , under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement?

The row over tenure deepened yesterday, with Bi-Courteny insisting that it has 36 years to run the terminal. But, according to a document made available to The Nation, it has 12 years to manage the terminal.

The Nation

can reveal that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a memorandum sent to him by former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode, did not extend the tenure to 36 years.

He had directed the minister to forward the request for approval to the Public Private Partnership Commission, charged with the responsibility before the matter could be brought to the Federal Executive Council.

The position of government on the agreement appears in tandem with the memoradum sent by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Richard Aisuebeogun, who canvassed that the agreement between FAAN and the managers of the terminal be re-examined. He affirmed that the General Aviation Terminal (GAT)was not part of the concession, though the managers of the new terminal claims to have applied and obtained approval for the use of the GAT from the Ministry of Aviation.

President Umaru Yar’Adua had hinted in a media chat that the government was working on modifying the BOT agreement of Bi-Courtney Aviation, but it rushed to an Abuja High Court to stop government from tampering with any section of the agreement.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Aviation at the weekend secured documents to show that approval was never secured for the extension of concession of the MM2 to Bi-Courtney Aviation from 12 to 36 years.

President Yar’Adua is said to have queried this extension of the concession given that Federal Executive Council files indicate that in April 2007, the then Minister of State for Aviation, Kayode, authored a memo wherein he pleaded to Obasanjo to approve the extension from 12 to 36 years.

But Obasanjo had refused to approve the request. The then President wrote back to Kayode thus: "Minister, No. We have the PPP Commission, which is charged with the responsibility now before it is brought to Council for approval". The Ministry of Aviation officials say that the Commission in question may not have considered this request and that the request for extension was never ever brought to the Federal Executive Council before Obasanjo left office.

A miffed President Yar’Adua is said to have ordered the Federal Ministry of Aviation to ascertain the basis for the claim by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services that it has a 36-year deal with the Federal Government.

Even then, Ministry of Aviation officials revealed that President Yar’Adua is of the view that the exclusivity clause in the BOT agreement is immoral and illegal ab initio and he is insisting on its modification.

Among other things, the exclusivity clause in the BOT Agreement forbids the Federal Government from improving or expanding the old terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, otherwise known as the General Aviation Terminal (GAT); that all scheduled domestic flights in and out of Airport in Lagos State shall during the Concession Period operate from MM2 and that no new domestic terminal shall be built in Lagos State.
The Lagos State Government which has since perfected plans to build its own Airport at Epe is kicking against this clause.

According to sources, airline operators, who currently patronise Bi-Courtney’s MM2 are allegedly complaining of prohibitive charges and taxes which they say stem from the monopoly the BOT agreement confers on Bi-Courtney Aviation.

What sort of country do we live in?

The more I look into the contracts signed by the Obasanjo administration, the more I'm convinced that the man should be in prison. How on earth can you mortgage our future to a private individual under the guise of Private-Public Partnership. Why should PPP be set up to discourage competition?

So there shoudn't be any airport built in Lagos until Mr Babalakin makes his profit! So Mr Babalakin can continue to exploit the average consumer.

For how long will we continue to embark on deregulation/privatisation without any legislation to protect consumer rights?

My heart bleeds for this country. God save us!

Is it also very sad to sign a contract that restricts growth and development of any infrastructure.

"Among other things, the exclusivity clause in the BOT Agreement forbids the Federal Government from improving or expanding the old terminal at the Murtala Muhammed "


If Nigeria is going to copy western privatisation then it should be copied to the fullest which will result in the following benefits

1)Development would be faster(due to competition with the other private parties)
2)Innovative solutions (due to again competition with the other private parties)
3)effective & time bound results
4)cost cuttings
5)improves quality in work
6)in turn more services to public are possible
7)increase the productivity
significant Growth in the business
9)controlled monitoring of public property gives public in turn good services



But as we all know when contracts are signed selfish interests are placed as high priority